UK's Office of International Affairs (OIA)

In the spring of 2005, the Office of International Affairs released a self-study identifying the following key objectives:

Administrative Section

seek more external funding from private and public sources than in the past.

develop improved communications across campus, through a newsletter and Web site as well as by working more closely with individual faculty, deans, center directors and other administrators.

Study Abroad Section

fill the Assistant Director for Study Abroad and Exchanges position in order to
increase participation by UK students in study abroad opportunities.

develop UK departmental and college programs that have an overseas focus.
Community Services Section

work closely with College of Education and K-12 teachers to encourage the introduction of international experiences in the pre-collegiate curriculum.

develop communications and training for Kentucky-Ecuador Partners as a model program that may be expanded to other areas.
International Student Services Section

identify personnel who can provide increased services to students and their spouses and participate in special programs like the UK Living-Learning communities.

Immigration Services Section

evaluate the reassignment of tasks across the section in order to improve responsiveness to student and administrative requests.

dramatically improve the Web site information.

Asia Center

seek university and external funding in order to sustain the Center after funding ends in July 2006.

With the support of Provost Subbaswamy, OIA has achieved several of its initial goals. Some of the most significant accomplishments include:

Hiring a director of education abroad activities, an international student recruiter and a senior communications specialist to focus exclusively on related objectives.

Establishing a pilot program for the education abroad section – adding needed personnel, setting clearer procedures for studying abroad and preparing for the goal of enrolling 600 students in education abroad programs during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Raising UK's profile among international undergraduate students by showing a dramatic increase in freshman applications, from 74 to 183, and transfer applications, from 25 to 78, between 2005 and 2008. (Based on statistics taken during the 33rd week of each academic year.)

Solidifying institutional funding for the UK Asia Center, as well as bringing in additional grants to support the center's efforts.